common sense 5-5-05

Think you’re the only one who’s having a
rough time in today’s economy, bucko? It’s time you started
thinking about someone else — such as the rich.

Yeah, the rich. Too few Americans consider the
hardships of those at the top.

Yeah, yeah, we hear you working stiffs whining all
the time about how your paychecks aren’t even keeping up with
inflation, but stop for a moment and think about the opposite problem.
CEOs, for example, already weighted down with personal wealth, have just
had another load dumped on them. The pay of the top corporate executives
rose by 12.6 percent last year, averaging nearly $10 million each. And that
doesn’t include their stock payments, which can easily double the
weight of their total sack.

Look at the burden of E. Stanley O’Neal, big dog
at Merrill Lynch. In addition to his salary and bonus, he was given $31
million worth of corporate stock payments. Come on — that’s
piling on the poor guy! Or Richard Kovacevich at Wells Fargo, who had to
shoulder not only a $7.5 million bonus but also stock payments of $20
million. Imagine having to haul that load home.

It would be next to impossible for these guys to bear
up under such a load, except that, luckily, they’re given chauffeured
limousines to carry it away. There are also the golf-club memberships, the
corporate retreat in the South Pacific, the daily rubdown by the
executive-suite masseuse, and other free perks to help make the burden
tolerable. It’s a mighty hard row to hoe, but someone has to do it.

So when you see the elites floating away in their
yachts while you’re barely treading water, before you get angry, take
a moment to feel their pain.